diff --git a/rlgwebd.js b/rlgwebd.js
index 1129af6..75c0bb6 100755
--- a/rlgwebd.js
+++ b/rlgwebd.js
@@ -992,7 +992,6 @@ function shutdown () {
   httpServer.close();
   httpServer.removeAllListeners('request');
   ctlServer.close();
-  fs.unlink(ctlsocket);
   tslog("Shutting down...");
   process.exit();
 }
@@ -1027,6 +1026,11 @@ if (process.getuid() != 0) {
 
 var httpServer; // declare here so shutdown() can find it
 
+/* This could be nonblocking, but nothing else can start yet anyway. */
+if (fs.existsSync(ctlsocket)) {
+  fs.unlinkSync(ctlsocket);
+}
+
 /* Open the control socket before chrooting where it can't be found */
 var ctlServer = net.createServer(function (sock) {
   sock.on('data', conHandler);